Gerrard holds the key for England

The key difference is that Gerrard will not be left rotting on the bench as in Charleroi, nor left forlornly watching a World Cup campaign on the TV. Contenders need individual champions on the highest stage; English rugby had Wilkinson and now English football has its own complete player who is seemingly as happy crashing into the tackle as when he's galloping at the heart of opposition defences with breathtaking power and directness.

How can we rely on him to be this champion? Because he's never stopped all year. Many of the star names in this tournament have had dismal seasons. Pavel Nedved, Michael Ballack, Raul . . . even the peerless Zinedine Zidane comes here after one of his poorest club campaigns.

Yet Gerrard? He picked up Liverpool, carried them on his shoulders all season and dumped them in the Champions League. He has been a one-man whirlwind. Launched like a missile from central midfield - even Eriksson must by now have accepted that using him on the left or in a holding role would be plain criminal - he has the potential here to illustrate Alex Ferguson's assertion that he has already outstripped Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira as the most influential player in the English game.

Better than Vieira? If he could prove that on Sunday by laying the foundations of an England win, it would change the whole complexion of the tournament. For in a poll of the 16 team coaches here, 14 have predicted France will successfully defend their title which gives an indication that neither the furore over Jacques Santini's move to Spurs nor the question marks over Marcel Desailly's fitness has dented their air of superiority. They remain the team to beat.

Yet Gerrard believes if England win this epic opener, they will go on to win the trophy. His unshowy self-confidence seems to be reflected in the comments of team-mates like Frank Lampard who insists: "We should boost our players up and say how good they are. We should not look down on ourselves. We have to go into the game with France saying we've got a worldclass midfield to match theirs."

Indeed, there is no need for an inferiority complex. Look at the comparative smoothness of England's preparations next to the other contenders. The Italians seem so distracted by suggestions of unrest in the team that captain Fabio Cannavaro was yesterday prompted to read out a statement accusing the press of seeming "like you want to destroy our team".

Meanwhile, the rumours keep persisting of familiar disarray in the Dutch camp, with some still suggesting that player power has forced coach Dick Advocaat into a wholesale, eve-of-tournament change of tactics. Then there's the hosts, unsettled by talk of coach Luiz Felipe Scolari going to Benfica. Big Phil is very disgruntled about it.

Intriguingly though, Spain, who find themselves for once largely dismissed as no-hopers by their ultracritical media after their limp qualifying campaign, seem like England to be warming up in perfect harmony under a quiet, unflappable coach Inaki Saez. With no expectations on such a talented squad, though, they could prove very dangerous.

So dangerous that I fear either they or the hosts could prove a barrier too far for England in the quarter-finals. This is no time for faint heartedness, though. The good news is that England have still never lost a World Cup or European Championship fixture in which Gerrard has played. The even better news is that we know he will play his heart out to keep it that way.